Nicholas AYLING ²

  Notes:

Nicholas was born around 1563 in the Parish of Stedham, and was known to be resident at Tote Hill, his father Thomas' home, for the baptism of at least two of his children, and for his burial in 1641. He signed documents with his mark. He married Mabel Gray (qv) in 1587, and had 12 children - three boys and nine girls. Most were baptised in Stedham, but three (Alice, Nicholas and Thomas) were baptised in Woolbeding. Their eldest daughter Joan was the first wife of William Yalden (qv) of Blackdown in the nearby Parish of Lodsworth, but she died when she was only 21, presumably in childbirth. Their next daughter Katherine has not been traced after her baptism. Their next daughter Alice married Edmund Yalden, one of William Yalden younger brothers, and moved to Thursley, north of Haslemere in Surrey, where they raised their large family. Their eldest son was also named Nicholas (qv), and this branch of the family maintained a link with Tote Hill.

Their next son Thomas remained in Stedham parish, although when he died in 1650 he left land in the Parishes of Terwick and Trotton, to the west of Stedham, to his son Nicholas. The next two daughters were twins: Elizabeth, who is known from her father's will to have married John Boxall; and Mabel who does not appear to have married, but had two daughters who lived with their grandparents. Next was Mary, who married Hewet Hankes from Clerkenwell in London in 1624. The baptism of their next daughter Barbara has not been found, but she is known to have married Benjamin Andrew of Bepton to the east of Stedham, and had seven children. Their youngest son William Ayling was a widower when he married Mary Yalden, the daughter of William Yalden (qv) of Blackdown by his second marriage: they had four sons, and were both recorded as being at Ash in Stedham at the end of their lives.

Their two youngest daughters were Susan, who married John Hudson, a widower, and had seven children all baptised in Stedham; and Agnes who married twice, firstly to Nicholas Bennet, and secondly to Richard Bridger, and appears to have moved away from Stedham.

Nicholas married Mabel GRAY, daughter of Edmond GRAY and Joan AYLING, on 20 Feb 1587 in All Hallows, Woolbeding, Sussex.¹ (Mabel GRAY was buried on 14 Aug 1655 in St James, Stedham, Sussex ⁵.)